Display rack



June 13, 1933. D, L, LEHMAN 1,914,133

DI SPLAY RACK Filed May 3]., 1950 INVENTR. lab/(wz.

A TTORNEY.

Patented June 13, 1933 PTENT OFFICE DWIGHT L. LEHMAN, OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL vBISCUIT COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION l OF NEW JERSEY DISPLAY RACK Application filed May 31, 1930. Serial 110.458,36?.

The invention relates to display racks, and particularly to racks adapted to display boxes ork containers of merchandise, such as vbiscuits and the like, and has for its object to provide a simple device of this character whichholds the boxes at their front or upper ends whereby boxes of various depths may be operatively held thereby with their fronts in aligned relation; said rack supporting the boxes in a manner whereby the boxes may be opened to remove merchandise therefrom without displacement from the rack.

A further object is to provide a rack of this character in which merchandise may be displayed to the best advantage, only a small part of the rack per se being visible when supporting the merchandise containers.

A further obj eet is to provide a rack of this character which is collapsible to a small size whereby it may be easily handled and packed for shipping. p

With the above and other objects in view, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention. l Y

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the rack showing a biscuit box operatively supported thereby.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the rack in collapsed or folded position.

Figure 3 is an end view of the rack.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure l'illustrating the manner in which the boxes are held by the rack.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a conventional biscuit box.

Figure 6' is a perspective view of a modified form of rack adapted for counter display purposes.

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper right hand corner of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawing, which illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention,

the numeral 1 designates rearwardly inclined side bars of a rack which are preferably formed of sheet metal and comprise a plate 2, a flange 3 bent perpendicularly inwardly from the forward edge of said plate, and a flange 4 perpendicularly forwardly bent from flange 3. Portions of the outer edge of iianges 4 of said side bars are cut away at spaced points 5, said cut-away portions 5 forming spaced aligned ears 6 therebetween in said fianges. The side bars lare 4connected together by sheet metal members 7, preferably L-shaped-in cross section and extending horizontally between. said side bars, said members 7 being pivotally connected at their ends to the under'sides of the flanges 3 of the side bars and positioned adjacent the cutaway portions 5 of said side bars for purposes toV be hereinafter set forth. A Central U- shaped sheet metal bar 8 is pivotally secured to said horizontal members 7 intermediate the side bars 1, the forwardly directed flanges 9 of said U-shaped bar having portions of the forward edges thereof cut away at points 10 in the same plane as the cut-away portions y of side bars 1 whereby spaced aligned ears 11 are formed in said U-shaped member in registering relation withl the ears of side lbars 1. Short legs'lQ are carried by the lower ends of the side bars, and pivotally connected to the plates 2 of said side bars adjacent the upper end thereof are rear legs 13 supporting the rack in inclined position; said legs 13 being positioned by a folding bracket 14 extending between said legs and the adjacent side bars.

The rack is adapted to support boxes, such as the conventional biscuit box 15 illustrated in Figure 5, at the upper or front end thereof and to so support said boxes the conventional inwardly directed flaps 16l carried by the upper end of said boxes are outwardly downwardly bent, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5, and a conventional display top 17 is mounted on the Vupper end of said box.

The display top 17 comprises a rectangular frame 18 having a downwardly directed marginal rim 19 depending therefrom which closely fits about the upper end of the container and holds flaps 16 in their downwardly directed position in contact with the sides of the container. And pivotally connected to said frame 18 is a glass cover 2O which may be opened to obtain access to the contents of the box. The box 15 with the display top 17 mounted thereon in the manner described is then disposed between one of the side bars and the central member 8 of the rack, said side bars and central member 8 of the rack, said side bars and central member 8 being spaced apart a distance to receive a conventional. box with. a close fit. The box is positioned so that the ears 6 and 11 of the Vrack extend under the depending rim 19 of the display top and between the box and the downwardly bent flaps 16. The flaps 16, being constrictively held in downwardly extending position by the rim 19, are reinforced and effectively held against displacement when the ears 6 and 11 are inserted thereunder, and support the weight of the box when bearing` upon said ears. The ears 6 and `11 are formed of a shorter dimension than the sides of the box and the display top to permit their insertion under the display top as described and to permit the side of the box to rest against the adjacent horizontal members 7 to aid in supporting and positioning the box in the rack, said horizontal members 7 being spaced apart a distance greater than the width of said boxes. Thus the boxes are supported at their upper or front end without interfering with the opening of the hinged glass cover 20 thereof.

The tops of the boxes are always held in aligned relation by the rack regardless of their depth, as illustrated in Figure 3, since they are supported at their tops and not at their bottoms; and therefore the usual makeshifts of using blocks and the like to level the tops of shallow boxes with the tops of deep boxes, resorted to in connection with the type of rack supporting the boxes at their bottoms, are eliminated. The rack is foldable, as shown in Figure 2, into a longnarrow compass by pivoting horizontal members 7 into substantial parallelism with. side bars 1, and when so folded is obviously easy to handle and pack for shipping and the like. The tops of the boxes, in fitting over the ears 6 and 11 of the rack, hide a large part of the rack from the front so that the merchandise is practically all that the observer sees, this minimizing of the amount of the rack? exposed to view being of great importance from a sales standpoint.

Various changes in the con struction of the device may be made. Thus a shelf 21, shown in Figure 1, may be mounted on the upper end of the side bars 1 and positioned above said rack to hold other merchandise. Also 1the size of the rack may be enlarged in several ways, as by lengthening` the horizontal members 7 to permit the use of a greater number of U-shaped members 8; or by disposing a plurality of racks end to end in aligned relation with the plates 2 of their side bars secured together, in which event the flanges 3 of said side bars operatively position the ears 6 of the adjacent side bars in spaced relation, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 4. The device might also be modified to form the ears 6 and 11 or the entire device of wire rather than sheet metal. It is also to be understood that any type of box having spaced downwardly directed weight supporting flanges carried thereby may be supported by a rack of this construction as well as the biscuit boxes shown.

A modified construction of the rack for use on sales counters and the like is shown in Figure 6. In this construction a base 25 is provided, on which is mounted a U-shaped plate 26. The ears 27 of plate 26 have their upper edges inclined relative to the base whereby they form means for supporting the box at its upper end in the manner heretofore described relative to ears 6 and 11. Flanges 28, inclined to the vertical, extend inwardly from said ears 27 and are adapted to partially support the box and to prevent the box from sliding relative to the rack.

It is further to be understood that a pair of spaced ears adapted to receive downwardly bent flaps at the opposite sides of the box, such as shown and described throughout the drawing and specification, is not necessary for an operative device of this character. One ear of a strength sufficient to support the weight of the box, and engaging a downwardly bent flap at one side of the box, will serve the purpose of the device, especially where it has provided in combination therewith means to operatively position the box when thus suspended from only one side thereof.

The invention having been set forth, what is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A display rack for containers comprising side bars, a transverse member connecting said side bars, an intermediate member carried by said transverse member, and registering ears projecting forwardly from said side bars and intermediate member and having their Vfree edges inclined to the vertical, said ears and transverse member cooperating to support containers in said rack.

2. A rack comprising side bars, a transverse member pivotally connecting said side bars, an intermediate member pivotally connected to said transverse member, and parallel registering ears carried by said sidebars and intermediate member, the Vouter edges of said ears being inclined to the vertical, said transverse member being connected to said side bars and intermediate member at points spaced from said ears. Y

8. A rack comprising vertically inclined side bars, flanges projecting forwardly of said side bars, said flanges being cut away at side bars, the flanges of said sides bars and U-shaped member being cut away at spaced points to form spaced ears therein.

5. The combination with an open ended container having a return bent fiap at its open end, of a rim encircling said container to reinforce said flap, a support, and a member carried by said support and adapted to be inserted between said container and said return bent flap to support the weight of said container.

6. The combination with an open ended container having a return bent flap at its open end, of a top covering the open end of said container and having a rim fitting over said return bent flap, a support, and a member projecting from said support and adapted to be inserted between said container and return bent Hap, said top rim reinforcing said return bent flap when mounted on said member to permit said return bent flap to support the weight of said container.

7. A display rack, adapted to support containers in inclined position, comprising spaced side bars, the distance between said bars being substantially equal to the width of the containers to be supported, and ears extending upwardly and forwardly from said side bars, the length of said ears being not greater than the length of the container to be supported.

8. In combination, a container having a downwardly turned flap at its open end, an inclined frame, an inclined ear extending upwardly from said frame and engaging under said flap, and a rim encirclingsaid container, flap and earvto support the container on said frame in inclined position.

9. In combination a rack having spaced parallel side bars, means for supporting said bars in inclined position, ears extending upwardly and forwardly from said side bars, a container having downwardly turned flaps engaging over said ears, a rim encircling said flaps and ears thereby to hold the container supported on said ears.

l0. In a display rack, spaced parallel side bars, means for supporting the side bars in inclined position, cross members dividing the space between the side bars into a plurality of compartments, a forwardly projecting inclined ear adjacent each compartment, a container in each compartment having a downturned flap engaging over its adjacent ear, and a rim encircling said container, flap and ear.

11. In a display rack, spaced side bars, means for supporting the bars in inclined position, pairs of spaced alined ears extending Y upwardly and forwardly from said side bars, a container having flaps engaging over each pair of ears, and means for holding the flaps in engagement with the ears.

l2. A collapsible display rack for containers having downwardly turned flaps comprising spaced inclined side bars, pivoted hori- Zontal members connecting the side bars and adapted to engage the sides of the containers, a rear leg pivotally connected to each side bar intermediate its ends, a folding bracket pivotally connected at each end to each rear leg and its associated side bar, and means on the side bars for engaging under the flaps of the containers.

13. A display device for supporting a plurality of containers ofdifl'erent heights comprising in combination side members having inclined front faces disposed in the same inclined plane, spaced cross members connecting the side members, a plurality of forwardly inclined containers with their lower sides resting on said cross members and having down turned flaps at their top edges, display covers having rims encircling said down turned flaps and secured to the containers thereby, forwardly and upwardly extending ears on the display device, their forward edges disposed in an inclined plane and engaging beneath the rims of the covers on the containers, said ears serving as gauges to support and position said containers with their display covers all disposed in substantially the same inclined plane parallel to the plane of said side members.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

DWIGHT L. LEHMAN. 

